SantiSuk

I have no knowledge, but out of interest I entered 'variable speed pool pump' in Google and I got lots of Thai hits with adverts from Lazada et al. I'm based in Thailand so I get Thai feed from Google. You may have to add Thailand to that search string if your Google feed is still your mother country.

I have had good experience this summer with replacing 40 mg of atorvastatin - giving me the often-quoted result of muscle pain, exhaustion and sleep disturbance - by 10mg of the same plus 10mg of ezetimibe. The health threads in the UK are full of stories of people's resistance to statins but also stories that should tell you to keep pressing your cardio to get to an acceptable alternative by changing the statin or going for combinations with other lipid controlling meds like ezetimibe. Cost by the way - 250 baht for a strip of 10 (x 10mg 'Sandoz' of Japanese manufacture - equivalent to western brands) at my local pharmacy. More expensive than regular statins but worth it. Note of caution - the above conclusion is provided that my next - and first since the swap-over - lipid tests give the right results). I didn't know there were local generics; might give those a trial sometime once I've had confirmation from the blood tests.

Very useful for anyone facing a hip replacement op to read this thread. All the stories you hear are of people coming out of he op saying how wonderful it is they can walk normally again (even had those stories relayed by family members who were living more closely to my mother when she had the op 20 years ago). Kinda makes you think that you should be 'pushing it' on the stick-less walking to get to that state. Had my op at Bumrungrad a month ago. Paid an arm as well as my leg of course and all went smoothly and you gotta love the quality of their hospitality, but I'm going to take it a bit easier now I've read your story. Received a couple of sheets of paper on release with the same exercises I was doing in recovery for 5 days in hospital but no real guidance about pacing oneself, when to back off and warnings on the potential implications of pushing it too quickly.

I guess my concern if I were doing it to my system is how does one stop the pool not emptying its contents into your machine room, but if someone can address that then maybe I could be tempted to have a go. [Probably not - I'm too risk averse - I'm the sort that believes in paying for pros and having been a pro in another profession I have the resources to do that (but I would never knock those that have to or want to look for cheaper solutions]. I think my pump is a bit lower than the top water line of the pool - maybe you have to partially empty the pool in those circs but I'll bet the pool builders have some tricks to circumvent that. I am sure you need to fix the pump more steadily than you describe its current fixing status. You risk vibrations being pushed around the pipework and eventually compromising some seals (I would guess). I'd expect to build a concrete platform/block using formwork onto the floor to provide a stable base; should be within a decent builder's competence. Whether they are good at getting the alignment right is down to their experience/professionalism I guess. Alternatively the pump's input and output pipework can possibly be remodelled so that it reaches down to a pump fixed to the existing floor level. Emaux pumps have always done the job for me but no doubt Bagwain (an experienced pro who comments on this forum) will be along to tell you about something he believes to be better. As I understand it Hayward are good quality, but expensive in Thailand. I have a 90,000 litre pool (including reserve tank) and Swimming Pools Thailand advised me to use a 1.0 HP Emaux pump at the initial build stage. I got to thinking it was a little bit underpowered, so I upgraded to 1.5 HP when I replaced it after 10 years (the old one was by then leaking a bit past the main joint seal half way along the pump; could have tried new seals but wanted to upgrade anyway to ensure I got the right solution without paying for a second visit if new seals didn't solve the problem after 1st visit). As before - good luck!

Very brave of you (or do I mean foolhardy?????) to think you can fit a replacement pump given your limited knowledge of how pools work. I reckon the question you should be asking is. "My pool is in {insert area where you live}. Does anyone have a recommendation for a pool company/shop that will advise on an appropriate replacement and do a supply and fit?". If you lived in the northern half of Isaan I would recommend Swimming Pools Thailand. (Southern half and their travel costs get a bit chunky in relation to the size of the job - I do use them but my requirements have usually been for several bits of kit at any one time) Good luck, from another Yorkshireman in Thailand!

Yes consulting a specialist here in Thailand is good value. Even Bumrungrad you could expect to come away with a bill of less than 2,000 baht plus any imaging or other test procedures for an initial consultation with a leading practitioner. [major operations are no cheaper than the UK these days. 5 to 10 years ago I was several times pared back by my company-funded UK insurer with the comment that they were overcharging].

I agree entirely with this assessment. I had a triple bypass at Bumrungrad 4 years ago, age 67. Much easier than I expected. I'm back again now and had a replacement hip a couple of days ago. Same again - I'm taking baby steps with a walker already.

Many thanks guys. I know about saphan loi as my Bangkok condo has one outside which features in my instructions to Thai taxi drivers when up in town! I used it at Ubon airport a few days ago and the check-in girls understood my issue. However, when I just now talked my wife thru' your responses she said that KhunBENQ's sà-paan tîiap krêuuang bin shows a level of sophistication that might get the girls switching to Thai, believing me to be fluent. I'll try it out next time (next week) and see what happens.???? Many thanks to all.

'Air bridge' being the walkway that is moveable to connect the aircraft exit to the terminal departure gate.

I have operated my pool with 3 different approaches over the 11 years I've owned it. First was simple manual dosing. Works fine if you don't mind regular contact with raw chlorine in either powder, granule or tablet form; it's cheap because there is no extra equipment to factor into the cost equation and no replacement elements needed to keep that equipment cost element from increasing annual costs. Next I had a salt water chlorination unit installed. Once you've written off the cost of the installation in your mind it's a cheap option (but bear in mind the chlorinator cell unit will need replacing every few years). It's also a very convenient mode. No need to mess with nasty chlorine but you will find yourself humping 25kg bags of salt around every 2-3 weeks or so (and maybe storing a stash if you want to cut costs - factory delivered salt tends to be noticeably cheaper than buying a sack at a time in Global or your local pool shop). It makes a lot of sense to upgrade to the salt chlorination method if you are away from home a lot. If nobody will be swimming in the pool you can probably overdose a bit and go way leaving the chlorinator to do its stuff for a month. Finally I recently (8 months ago) upgraded to UV filtration. Seems like its the least effort method of all three. I just put 300 grams of chlorine every 3 weeks into my 90k litre pool (+ or - 100g if my diary means I am having to dose after 4 or 2 weeks- it's needed to keep the pipes from getting mucky. I love the clarity and freshness of the pool water (except for the couple of days after dosing) thta UV provides. The replacement units plus installation costs make this the most expensive of the 3 options and I haven't yet got the cost profile worked out, but would not be surprised to find its average cost to be 1.2 to 1.5 times salt water chlorination once the replacement UV element has been factored in. Don't let the pros persuade you that manual dosing is prehistoric and messy and that the other alternatives are equally cheap. If you are used to handling chlorine and don't mind spending that bit of regular time doing so then carry on saving yourself a bit of money. Maybe if your pool users don't like the slight chlorination effect on their nose and eyes (only really noticeable for a day or so after dosing) it might persuade you to upgrade at some future point. Now to your germane point - what type of chlorine for manual dosing? Powder is the cheapest, granules next and tablets the most expensive. Even discounting the slight differences in cost, in my opinion (which others are quite entitled to disagree with) granules win hands down. Powder is a no-no for me. You can't chuck it into the centre of the pool without losing some of it to even a slight breeze (and you'll have to make sure your pets are not around during dosing time). What I like about granules is that if you do get a patch of your pool that is showing some greening on the floor or walls you can target granules to collect at a specific area. A couple of times over the years I have had a problem with grouting at the deep end showing a bit a of green/brown or a particular area of floor doing the same. For problem wall areas or at the bottom edges I use one of those plastic rice spoons (used to take cooked rice out of an electric rice cooker), dip it into the pot of granules and then shake it slowly so that granules drop into the very fringe of the pool or chuck it into the air so it lands over the target floor area - I find granules quite reliable for targeting work; powder is frustrating if you try the same! It sticks in unexpected lumps. Granules float momentarily then drop rewardingly straight down into the bottom edge (if its walls or the bottom corner joint that you are targeting). Works well in stopping the green in its tracks IME. [Of course it helps to have a go with brushing first]. Hope this helps.

My experience here in Isaan is that it has been very noticeable over the last few months that many drivers are driving slower to save money. Can be irritating, but overall not much effect because the slower vehicles make it easier to plan a non-consumptive overtaking manoeuvre!

I was very pleased that the private hospital I attended 2 weeks ago when I contracted Covid (as a 71 year old with co-morbidities) was prescribing Molnupiravir as their antiviral of choice. Psychologically I was able to deal with the potential risks of my situation when the doctors replied to my questions about how this relatively recent drug (developed by the private sector - Merck - and given emergency FDA authorisation only 6 months ago) was performing for them with enthusiastic/positive comments. So presumably GPO was licensed by Merck to manufacture the drug for Thailand. I have no problem with having paid for it even if others who are less fortunate financially have got it free/reduced price thru' the state hospital system. What's the problem here? I don't see any reports that the private hospital's access to the drug has reduced the availability for the state system.